The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has published its latest decisions in relation to the scrutiny of the ‘cases concerning the actions of the security forces in Northern Ireland’, otherwise known as the McKerr group of cases. This follows on from a meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies, which took place in Strasburg earlier this...
CAJ is pleased with the unanimous decision of the UK Supreme Court to uphold the appeal taken by Geraldine Finucane in relation to the murder of her husband Pat Finucane. Pat Finucane was murdered on 12 February 1989 and although David Cameron admitted in 2012 that there were ‘shocking levels of collusion’ in this murder...
The Committee of Ministers is the decision-making body of Europe’s leading human rights organisation, the Council of Europe. Between 12 to 14 March, the 1340th (Human Rights) meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies will take place. This session will look at the execution of judgements made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in a...
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) has said that a number of his reports into past killings, which may have involved collusion, will be delayed because of police failure to disclose information. CAJ understands that new information on the activities of Loyalist murder squads has come to light. The PSNI claims that ‘human error’...
CAJ highlights another year spent promoting justice and protecting rights in our Annual Report 2018. It’s been an eventful twelve months for the CAJ team, not least because of the human rights implications of the UK’s impending exit from the EU. Introduction to the report: People in Northern Ireland are sometimes accused, not always unjustly,...
Agents for Britain’s Security Service are authorised to commit serious crimes, on British soil, without informing prosecutors, under a secretive MI5 policy, a court heard today. Reprieve, Privacy International, the Pat Finucane Centre and CAJ are challenging the legality of the scheme before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in London. The groups’ leading counsel, Ben Jaffey...
CAJ has criticised the decision taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today to refuse a request to re-examine the ‘Hooded Men’ case in its Grand Chamber. The case concerns the ‘interrogation in depth’ of the Hooded Men during their internment in 1971. While detained without charge or trial, these 14 men were...
No.-67-How-Public-Order-Policing-Works-in-Northern-Ireland-Standards-and-Accountability-Feb-2016 This document attempts to give an account of the standards to which the Police Service of Northern Ireland aspires when carrying out public order policing and some of the issues that arise. These standards are to be found in domestic legislation, a series of police guidance documents and international human rights instruments, primarily the...
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) is the sponsor department for the Public Records Office for Northern Ireland (PRONI). The DCAL Minister is currently the minister responsible for decisions on release of records, this is planned to transfer to the new Department of the Communities later in 2016. 3. A consultation was launched...
